Lasting Friendships II: Christmas Wrappings
by Mel J1701
Summary: Harm and Mac struggle to survive Christmas with the kids


****

Title: Lasting Friendships II- Christmas Wrappings   
**Author: **Mel (e-mail me at [m.a.jooty@dundee.ac.uk][1])   
**Disclaimer: **The characters of JAG are the property of David Bellasario, CBS and Paramount and no profit has been made by my utilising them in my story. Everyone else is mine.   
**Rating: **PG   
**Pairing: **Harm/Mac.   
**Summery:** Mac and Harm find themselves wishing for the simplicty of stalkers and spies when they have to survive Christmas with five kids.   
**Archiving: **Okay, as long as my name stays on it and I'm informed about where it's being posted.   
**Author's Note: **I wasn't going to do anymore in the 'Lasting Friendships' universe but with Christmas upon us, I decided to do a little festive piece. It would be advisable to read 'Lasting Friendships' first so you'll know who all the characters are and what's going on.   
**__________________________________________________________________________________________**  
**Harm And Mac's Residence**   
**Washington DC**   
**1730 EST, December 17th**   
"I want that....I want that...I want that..."   
  
Mac watched as Benjy, who was sitting about ten centimeters from the television screen, was mesmerizing by each and every toy advert aired during his cartoon show. At three years old, every single new toy and gizmo that he saw, he wanted. Fortunately, he had the attention span of a gnat and by tomorrow she could rest easy knowing the toys had had seen today were forgotten as the toddler focused on the new array being advertised. Unfortunately, the other four children were not so easily dissuaded...   
  
The second it hit December, it was like the five children she knew were replaced by five greedy, selfish monsters whose only concern was for the day Santa was coming. Of course, Nick was more than aware of the whole Santa myth but the younger four were still convinced (though she had sometimes had the feeling Tom and Jacob only used the whole Santa concept to manipulate the adults). And in their opinions, Santa had shares in the 'Toys R Us' company as well as a multi-billion dollar bank account, which was all devoted to them.   
  
At this very moment, Tom lay sprawled on the sofa poured over some medical journals deciding which piece of surgical hardware he wanted. Jacob was exploring the more 'safer' area of electric go-karts while Nick was veering more towards miniature motorbikes. Kat was by no means being out-done by the boys; to Mac, it looked as if her Christmas letter was turning into a novel.   
  
"Kat, isn't that letter getting a little long?" Mac hinted.   
  
"No," replied the five-year-old, not glancing up from the screen of her laptop. "I'm five, I have no concept of long."   
  
"Okay," Mac conceded, "but that list has to be around twenty kilobytes."   
  
"I need twenty kilobytes of things though, don't I?"   
  
From the child's determined tone that was a rhetorical question. One should never forget how stubborn a five-tear-old could be during the festive season. Still, Mac was equally determined to cut that list down by a quarter.   
  
Catching a look at part of the letter, Mac inquired, "Do you really need a new lap-top? What's wrong with that one?"   
  
Kat sighed and in a simple tone, as if talking to a small tot, she said, "This one is out-dated, the one I saw is not. Okay?"   
  
"Why don't you get a nice doll or something?"   
  
There was disgust in her voice now. "What am I going to do with a stupid doll? Play 'Mommies and Daddies'?! I don't think so...Anyway, if I got a doll it would just be sacrificed to the cause of helping to encourage Tom's future career." Sure enough, she held up a half-decapitated teddy whose stuffing was sticking out from under a roll of bandages wrapped around its stomach.   
  
Well, if insinuations didn't work then perhaps manipulation would.   
  
"I don't think Santa Claus will be able to afford all that stuff, Kat. There are all the other boys and girls in the world he had to buy for, not just you."   
  
"I don't care," Kat said through clench teeth. "He _*better*_ make me a priority if he knows what's good for him."   
  
If Santa had existed and saw that twisted scowl, he would have used his sleigh to run off to Pluto. For such a little kid, Kat could make herself quite intimidating when she wanted to.   
  
Luckily, Harm came home from work at the moment thus rescuing her from the wrath of Kat. Mac had to smile as the children dived on him, delighted to see him home. It was times like this she could forget all the hassles of 'mothering' four children who were not her own on top of the fifth who was her biological child.   
  
It had been eight months since Mac had moved back to Washington DC after eleven years away and Harm had re-entered her life bringing with him his four children, and three-and-a-half-months since the two little families had moved in as one. Her own eight-year-old son Jacob was delighted to have built-in brothers and a sister, and she was content to have a loving family for both her and Jacob.   
  
Her son had always been a quiet child with a number of health problems, including asthma and poor kidneys, but having four kids to back him up had brought the boy out of his shell. But a more outgoing Jacob coupled with four already boisterous Rabb children were a walking-headache for the person looking after them...and today that person was her. Mac was too pampered with the easy life of looking after one child, she didn't know she had it easy until eight-year-old Jacob was joined by thirteen-year-old Nick, eight-year-old Tom, five-year-old Kat and Benjy, aged three.   
  
The euphoria of Christmas had then served to have her take an early vacation leaving her to deal with the kids instead of the usual babysitter. Looking back, Mac didn't know what possessed her. However, deep down she knew it was the fact that this would be their first Christmas together as a family not to mention it would also mark the first holiday they would spending. For Thanksgiving, she and Jacob had gone to Miami to spend it with her friends there whilst Harm and promised his mother he would bring the kids to California for the vacation. Christmas, both she and Harm had later determined, would remain a holiday for just them and the kids in their Washington home.   
  
"How are things going, Mac?" Harm asked, scooping Benjy into his arms. "Were they much trouble?"   
  
Mac smiled, kissing him on the cheek. "They weren't too bad but if there wasn't any school, you'd be coming home to five strangled corpses."   
  
"I did warn you," Harm teased, "I learned _*my*_ lesson eight years ago."   
  
"Don't worry, next year I'm working right up until Christmas Eve."   
  
"Feeling any better? I could have Terri come by and take a look at you if you want."   
  
"I'm fine," Mac said, "you just worry too much."   
  
For the past few days Mac had been a trifle under the weather, throwing up and feeling generally sickly. She and Harm had quickly worked out her period of illness succeeded the day Kat so 'generously' decided to make a desert for her. Of all Harm's children, it was Kat who was not too happy at the thought of another woman taking _*her*_ place as the apple of her father's eye. Every so often, Kat would do something to highlight who had the upperhand.   
  
"It's my job to worry," Harm said, moving to sit beside her on the sofa. He set Benjy down and took her hands, gazing deep into her brown orbs. "It's important we look after each other, Mac, we're a family now, we have to-"   
  
There was a polite cough and the couple tore their eyes from each other to find five sets of eyes regarding them with disgust. Mac swallowed a laugh; from their expressions, one would think they were having a wild and passionate affair.   
  
"This is a public place, Dad," said Tom, in a superior voice. "And there are children here. If you must do all the sick, lovey-dovey stuff, can you please do it elsewhere?"   
  
"Yeah," Jacob agreed, "you're making us sick. We're too young to be watching this suck."   
  
Ever the diplomat, Nick interjected the two boys. "Eh, Dad, when are we going to Ballston? You said we could go before Christmas so we can get our presents."   
  
Harm exchanged a glance with Mac. "The schools finish on Friday, don't they?"   
  
"Yes," said Nick. "Thank God. Another week at the pits and I think I'd go mad."   
  
"You're already mad, son," Harm grinned at the teenager. "Okay, we'll go shopping on Saturday. A nice, enjoyable day out."   
  
*********************************************   
**Ballston Common Mall**   
**Washington DC**   
**1230 EST, December 20th**   
Harm could have kicked himself the minute those words had come out of his mouth three days ago. He should have remembered then that 'nice' and 'enjoyable' are not terms associated with their clan. He just had to go tempt fate and now he was paying for it.   
  
The day had began quietly enough and there were no problems rousing the kids up for the trip to the mall, it was only later when things went downhill at one hundred miles per hour. First, Benjy decided he didn't want to sit in the pushchair, he wanted Harm to carry him everywhere leaving his father with a practically broken arm and back. Harm forgot his 'baby' no longer weighted the same as a baby. Then Tom threw tantrum because Harm warned him he was too young for a lobotomy kit. Not to be overshadowed, Jacob's tantrum followed in quick succession to his 'stepbrother's' when Mac decided a go-kart was too dangerous for him. All this and it was only midday. What else could go wrong?   
  
"Why did _*she*_ have to come?" Kat muttered.   
  
The little girl had been marching on at a fast pace, so when Harm jogged to catch up with his daughter he was surprised to see her face sullen. Now he knew why.   
  
"What's wrong with Mac coming?" Harm asked, trying to sound casual so he didn't put Kat on the spot. But her mood troubled him, he had hoped they were passed all this. He had to remind himself it had only been seven months and Kat was just a kid. "I thought you liked her now."   
  
"I like her better when she's at home. It's only _*us*_ that go shopping; just me, you and the boys. It's always been that way every Christmas. Then you go and invite _*her*_."   
  
"Mac is part of our family now, Skipper," Harm said gently. "Families do things together."   
  
"You love her more than us now. I bet next year we won't be able to go shopping 'cause we'll in a New Mexican boarding school. I can see it already."   
  
Harm grabbed her and turning her to face him, he knelt down to her level so they were eye-to-eye. "What would make you say such a stupid thing, Kathryn?" Harm demanded. "Of course I don't love her more than you and the boys. God, you're my children, nothing and no-one will ever take your places."   
  
"Sometimes I wonder..."   
  
Harm was stunned. He resisted the urge to shake her in front of witnesses. Instead, in a strained voice he said, "This is just a shopping trip, Kathryn. And since this our first Christmas together I thought we'd all go together- me, you, the boys, Mac and Jacob- a family. It does_ *not*_ mean I'm about to elope with her nor am I just going to abandon you in the streets. You're still my little girl and I love you. That will never change. Do you understand that? If you don't, I can stand here all day- all century- going over it."   
  
"I understand...Who do you love more then?" Kat glowered, refusing to give in.   
  
She was a formidable opponent and very much her father's daughter when it came to the lawyer game. Even when Kat was only three years old, Meg had said she enjoyed watching the father and daughter try to 'out-lawyer' each other. Now, aged almost six and soon to be excelled to the second grade, Harm knew it wouldn't be long before she left him for dust.   
  
"I love you all the same, I just love Mac...different."   
  
Kat raised an eyebrow at this. "In what way, Daddy?"   
  
"Uh..." How could he explain his love for Mac in a way a five-year-old would understand and in a way that would not lead into realms that the five-year-old wouldn't be ready for until a good few years? "Well, you see, Kat...I love Mac in..."   
  
Kat just shook her head, pitifully. "Don't worry, Daddy. I know all about sex. You don't have to get so worked up."   
  
Harm blinked. "You do?" He scowled suspiciously. "Who told you?"   
  
"I live with a junior doctor and a teenager, need I go on? Besides, Dad, I am about to be put up another grade and my IQ is in the genius level, you don't _*really*_ think the old stork story cuts it anymore, do you?"   
  
"...Ok-ay..." Harm stood up, still eyeing the child who met his stare unflinchingly. "How about me and you go around for a couple of hours? Just the two of us."   
  
"Nah," Kat said, bored. "Nick said he'd take me."   
  
Great, now his teenage kid had more pull over his daughter than him.   
  
"Well, I can take you. We'll have fun."   
  
"No thank you, Daddy, Nick and I have more fun." She winked as she walked away to her elder brother's side. "Catch ya later."   
  
Harm gaped as Kat strolled after Nick, cool as a cucumber. Here he had just had the most important conversation of the week, trying to emphasis the depth of his love for her and she did not seem at all perturbed. If he thought Nick's teenage traumas were bad, he truly dreaded Kat's.   
  
Once out of their father's sight, Kat immediately directed Nick into the nearest drugstore. She abandoned her brother at the aftershave section, claiming she needed to look at 'girl's stuff', and quickly made her way to the laxative area of the medicine section. Smiling as she thought of the box of truffles that she had bought Mac, she wanted to show her new stepmother figure who was really in charge. Oh, it was important for her to try and love Mac like an auntie or stepmother for her daddy's sake, but Kat also knew it was important to lay out her boundaries.   
  
*********************************************   
"I'm your mother, it's my job to lay out the boundaries for you."   
  
"But, Mom..."   
  
Mac sighed inwardly as Jacob continued his whining for a go-kart. She and Harm had decided to meet up for coffee later while he spent some time with Tom and Benjy leaving to bond with Jacob. But the way things were going, the only bonding the mother and son were going to be doing would be when her hands would bond with his neck and squeeze.   
  
"No buts, Jacob, I don't want you to have a go-kart. You're too young for one and they're too dangerous."   
  
"Nick's got one," moaned the boy.   
  
"Yes," Mac conceded, "and Nick is also thirteen years old."   
  
"This is only 'cause I'm _*sick*_, isn't it?" Jacob made a face when he said this. "I bet you'd get me a go-kart if I was normal."   
  
Maybe she would. The fact that many of her decisions relating to Jacob were influenced by his illnesses was not something Mac liked to dwell on. Not all did it make her sound like a neurotic mother but it only served to alienate Jacob from both her and other, healthy children. Her coddling her eased since meeting Harm, nonetheless there were times when she would have preferred nothing better than to wrap him in cotton wool from the evils of the world. And the idea of her baby boy scooting around in one of those fast, reckless go-karts was an example of such a time. Of course, Jacob would be mortified if he knew.   
  
"Dad would get me one," mumbled Jacob. Mac didn't doubt that; Dalton had never been one to exercise caution even with his own son. On most occasions, Dalton would buy Jacob infantile toys and books but if the boy asked for anything then her ex-husband would purchase it without hesitation or thought. Hell, the kid could ask for a barrel of heroin and Dalton would skip off to get it- if he could tear himself away from his latest floozy, Barbara.   
  
"I won't get to see him this Christmas, will I?" His deep brown eyes were downcast.   
  
Sighing, Mac turned to her son, lifting his chin up. "Would you like to spend Christmas in Miami with your dad, Jacob?" He shrugged. "You know, I'd be sad but I won't stop you. He's your dad and I know you want to be with him."   
  
"He always came in the evening to give me my presents."   
  
"Oh, Jacob..." She tousled his soft dark hair. "It's not too late for you to spend Christmas down there. Do you want to?"   
  
"No," Jacob sighed. "I wanna be here with you and Harm and the others." He smiled faintly. "I've never had Christmas with other kids, except when Jessica was here. It'll be pretty special this year, huh, Momma?"   
  
Mac shared his smile. "Yes, it will..." She gazed lovingly at him for a moment then produced an envelope from her bag. "And this is another reason why it's special. Consider it a present as well a coming of age for my not-so baby boy."   
  
Jake opened the envelope and when he read the content of the documents inside it, he started. "You mean it?! Really?!"   
  
"I think you're ready."   
  
He threw himself at his mother and Mac held him tightly. The pampering part of her wondered if she had made the right decision but the sensible mother in her realized that her decision was the best thing she could have done on Jacob's behalf. It was her son's one chance of leading a normal life. Now she just had to explain to Harm how her choice regarding her little boy would affect certain aspects of their new family.   
  
*********************************************   
The training one received in the Naval Academy just did not compare to the hurdles one went through in fatherhood. Harm could vouch to that. At this very moment, he had two of his offspring off wandering the mall no doubt a certain part of that pair looking for new ways to torment Mac. Meanwhile, his youngest was slumped in his shoulder sound asleep- though alert enough to bawl the place down dare he place the tot in a stroller- as his eight-year-old argued why he should receive a lobotomy kit for Christmas.   
  
"It would be really beneficial for us all, Dad," Tom prattled on. "We would save on any lobotomies the family might need in the future. I get the feeling Kat is a perfect candidate and..."   
  
_*I really need you, Meg* Harm sighed as he thought of his beloved late-wife. *This was meant to be your area of our partnership called parenthood.*_   
  
He was meant to deal with Kat's stubborn streak and Nick's sensitivity, and Meg was supposed to feed Tom's medical curiousity and soothe Benjy's tears. He loved Mac, but he wished the mother of his children could be with him also to watch their children grow up together as they had vowed the day they married.   
  
"Dad!"   
  
Harm jolted to see Tom scrutinizing him, worry etching across his cherubic face. He shifted Benjy and smiled comfortingly at Tom. "I'm fine, Tommy."   
  
The boy's eyes slit back. "You don't look fine," the youngster observed. "Actually, from my medical opinion, you look kinda sh...crappy."   
  
Tom may have had his dark features but he was definitely Meg's son in matters of the heart. He had directly inherited her to-the-point manner as well as her scrupulous stare...God, there he was again thinking about his wife when he should be concerned about Mac. It was just that it was around Christmas time that the loss of Meg truly rubbed into Harm's soul. She adored the festive season, watching the kids open their presents and the two of them cooking a huge meal. He _*did* _love Mac but he could never forget Meg.   
  
"You're thinking about Mom, aren't you?" whispered Tom.   
  
Oh great, now he was depressing his eight-year-old kid. Christmas was meant to be a time of goodwill and cheer but by the time they were going to be through with it, they'd probably all end up in the psyche unit under suicide watch.   
  
"What makes you think that?" Harm asked, nonchalantly.   
  
"You have that weird look in your eyes when you think about Mom. I know, you think about her a lot so I see these things. We all do. Don't you love Mac anymore?"   
  
One kid thought he loved Mac too much, the other was questioning if he loved her too little.   
  
"Of course I do, but I also love your mother. She was my wife, your mother and a huge part of me, Tom. I miss her so much." Harm struggled to stay in control as he spoke. The last thing he needed was to break down in the middle of a shopping mall.   
  
Tom nodded. "I wish she was here now."   
  
"I do too, son."   
  
"I'm glad you still think about her," Tom said honestly. Harm glared at him, stunned the boy could actually believe he could forget his own wife. Tom saw his father's barely concealed anger and rectified, "I didn't mean I think you don't think of Mom, I just meant...I dunno, now that Mac's here it's kinda reassuring to see you think of Mom. I already knew that you did but it's good to actually_ *see* _that you do...if you know what I mean."   
  
Harm smiled faintly. "I think I do, Tom...And I just want you to know that I'll never forget your mom, she gave me four wonderful kids and a fresh start. I only regret we never got more time with her."   
  
"Yeah," agreed Tom, somberly.   
  
Eleven years- that was nothing. Hell, Benjy only had a few weeks with his mother before her life was tragically cut off when she stood by her oaths in protecting a small child from his drunken, abusive ass of a father. Meg had given him so much; she helped him rebuild his life after Mac left the military, she gave him four perfect kids, she encouraged him to let go of the obsessions which were ruling his life. As a young man, Harm had been inconsolable when Mac left him for Dalton but looking back he was glad she did, otherwise he would never have met Meg. And his time with her he wouldn't trade for anything.   
  
Tom studied his father, anxious to see him so desolate. The boy wasn't used to dealing with his dad like this, that was Nick's job as the eldest. Still, he couldn't allow it to go on and since Nick wasn't here, he would have to do something.   
  
"Hey, Dad?" Tom asked, hopefully.   
  
"Yes, Tom?"   
  
"Now that I've given you all this valuable talk time for free, does this mean you'll get me a lobotomy kit?"   
  
Harm arched an eyebrow. "Not by a long shot, kid. I was kind of hoping that after this little chat you would be switching your line of interest from medicine to psychology."   
  
Tom's face of incredulity mirrored his father's. "I don't _*think*_ so...There's no guts or sharp instruments in psychology."   
  
*********************************************   
"Thank God, Christmas comes but once a year. I don't think I could do this every week."   
  
Mac smiled as Harm slumped into the chair with his coffee and donut. As agreed, they had met for coffee at three o'clock in a small cafe inside the mall building. For a 'small' fee of ten dollars, Nick had taken the young kids off their hands while they enjoyed a break away from the 'I wants' and 'Get me thats'. It was just as well, Harm looked on the verge of physical and emotional collapse.   
  
"Not having fun?" Mac said, playfully.   
  
Harm snorted. "This was meant to be a simple trip to the mall, it's turned into an emotional rollercoaster."   
  
"Why? What happened?"   
  
"Oh, the usual- Kat hates everybody, Benjy has decided he had a hatred of the stroller, Tom's turned into a closet psychologist. I think only Nicky is the happy, well-adjusted one at the moment and even then I know he has a tough time dealing with Christmas."   
  
"He misses his mom, huh?"   
  
"Yeah...it was in November when she was shot and as you can imagine, Christmas that year was not exactly happy. Ben and Kat were just babies and didn't know anything but my boys were broken that year. It's gotten better for Tom as time has gone on but Nick still takes it bad."   
  
Mac understood completely. Jessica had died four years ago but still she had to catch herself from buy two lots of Christmas presents instead of one. It hurt deeply to miss out on seeing her little girl's face light up on Christmas morning. If it wasn't for Jacob, she would have given up after losing Jessica. He gave her the strength to go on.   
  
"So what do you think of the annual Rabb Christmas trip to the mall."   
  
Mac smiled slightly as she thought her conversation with Jacob. "It certainly is soul cleansing."   
  
"That's one way to describe it," Harm said sardonically. "And to think we once thought that dealing with spies and murderers was difficult. Five kids, one dog and a cat all shoved into one house- that's the real definition of difficult."   
  
"God, we were so innocent back then."   
  
"More like ignorant, we probably would have cracked if we had to deal with our five back then."   
  
"Oh, you weren't too bad with Josh Pendry," Mac pointed out.   
  
"Josh was one child and Annie was always nearby. Five kids are an entirely different matter altogether." 

Mac shifted slightly in her seat. She had been wondering when to bring up the certain topic that had been bothering her for some time. She wasn't sure how Harm would the news but she knew she would have to bring it up sooner or later...and now seemed like the perfect time.   
  
"Eh...Harm?"   
  
"Yeah?"   
  
"I've been meaning to talk to you about this...Remember how we've talked about adding Child Number Six to the family?" She could see he was now on the alert, his eyes were narrowed slightly and he was sitting up straighter.   
  
"What about that?"   
  
Mac sighed, gathering her courage. "Well, I'm not...I'm not sure if we should have another child."   
  
Harm nodded slightly. "Why not?"   
  
That was a fair question. She had been worried he would see it as a rejection. "I've decided to put Jacob on the transplant list. He's growing up now, already eight years old, and dialysis is not something he needs holding him back, especially since it won't be long before he's in high school."   
  
"I thought he was already on the list," Harm frowned.   
  
Mac looked away. "No, I haven't felt as if I could put him through that. It's a big operation and he's such a little boy. Also, all that waiting, never being able to go far from the hospital in case the pager went off. It was too much worry for a child...But since we've met you and the kids, I've watched him and I can see he's changing. He needs the transplant. All I have to do is finish filling out the forms." 

Eight years she had devoted her life to protecting Jacob. She had been there with him through everything but the time he broke his leg at age two stuck out in her mind. He needed surgery and she could never had predicted he would have taken so badly to the anesthetic. He was sick and weak for hours after the operation. It was then she decided to put off having his name added to the transplant register...Then she met Harm six years later. 

Mac had watched painfully as Jacob struggled to keep up with the Rabb children. The kids made allowances for his ill-health, considering that whenever they had an activity, but it anguished Jacob when the other children splashed in the lake nearby or when they played hide-and-seek as he was having his dialysis. Tom was the same age as Jacob and his agility was miles ahead, even Kat could run circles around her son. That was when she made the decision to the give her son a stake in his future, a chance to be healthy. 

But in giving Jacob that opportunity, she would have to make sacrifices...and one such sacrifice would be not to have any additional worries as she concentrated on her son. A newborn child would definitely be counted as an additional worry.   
  
Taking her hand, Harm smiled. "I'm glad you're giving Jacob the chance of a transplant...And I think you're right. We shouldn't have another child."   
  
Now it was her turn to frown. "Why not?"   
  
She could tell his reasons had nothing to do with Jacob. Maybe the idea of having a child didn't appeal to him.   
  
He sighed deeply. "Spending time with the kids today, I've realized they are still kids and so much change has happened recently. Meg only died two years ago and now there's a new woman in my life. They've accepted you and Jacob but I think it might be a bit much to have them accept a new child."   
  
"So we just enjoy our five, huh?"   
  
"Yep, I think five is enough anyway. It might have been nice to have another kid but I can just imagine telling that to Kat. I'd have to get the protective armour out."   
  
"Oh, come now...Big Captain Rabb isn't scared of a little five-year-old, is he?" teased Mac.   
  
"Too right I am, that 'little five-year-old' can make life pretty difficult when she wants to."   
  
Smiling inwardly, Mac had to agree with him. In some ways, it could be seen as a blessing not to have another child. After all, if the child was a girl and Kat took her under her wing, God help anyone who crosses their paths. No, she was quite content to have one biological son and four surrogate children.   
  
*********************************************   
**Harm And Mac's Residence**   
**Washington DC**   
**0528 EST, December 25th**   
In the midst of her sleep, Mac become aware of whispers and muffled giggles filtering through into her dreams. Suddenly, tiny hands shook her and she awoke to five grinning faces staring down at her. Next to her, she heard Harm undergoing a similar assault.   
  
"It's Christmas!" yelled Tom. "Time to get up."   
  
"Yeah, we wanna open out presents," Jacob said.   
  
"Oh, kids," groaned Harm, barely awake, "it's only half five. Can't you wait until a little later?"   
  
"NO!" was the simultaneous response.   
  
"Okay, okay..."   
  
Grudgingly, Harm sat up and pivoting, he planted his feet on the floor. Equally reluctant, Mac mirrored his movements. On the bed, the children were getting impatient. Benjy and Kat were jumping on the bed and flung themselves at Harm when he stood up. Thankfully, he caught them before they ended up on the floor.   
  
He studied their sticky faces and surmised, "I take it you've all opened the presents in your stockings then."   
  
Nick rolled his eyes. "Of course, Dad, we opened them ages ago. Now we're just waiting for you."   
  
Harm arched an eyebrow. "Oh, are we holding you guys up?"   
  
"Yes," Kat stated, "but we know you're both old and don't have as much energy as us so we forgive you. Just hurry up, we've been waiting for hours. Nick made us wait 'til half past five before we could wake you."   
  
Mac did not want to know what God-awful time they had roused at- if they slept at all. Children never ceased to amaze her; on a schoolday it was murder to wake them yet on weekends and Christmas it was like they had been revitalized.   
  
Still holding the youngest pair, Harm started to move out the bedroom with the three older boys eagerly on his trail. When he noticed she hadn't moved, he turned to her.   
  
"Are you coming, Mac? I don't think these lot can wait any longer."   
  
"I'll be there in a minute," she assured him.   
  
She waited until they were out of earshot before dashing for the bathroom. Mac didn't want to worry Harm and kids but she had been feeling queasy for some time. Just after Jessica had died and Dalton had cut any emotional ties they had shared before, she had been diagnosed with a stomach ulcer. The symptoms were not exactly the same but what else could it be?   
  
*********************************************   
Harm watched in contentment at the children tore at the presents under the tree until the living room looked like a Tasmanian devil had hit it. Wrapping paper lay strewn across the floor and furniture, packaging from toys cast aside and five pyjama-clad children were occupied with their new gifts.   
  
They were all satisfied with the presents- Nick had received the miniature motorbike he had asked for under the condition he wore a helmet and took lessons; Tom was happy with the first aid kit, a set of medical programs for his computer and videos of the goriest episodes of his favourite programme 'Medic'; Jacob was happily playing with his games console; Kat was content with her palmtop computer; and, Benjy had received a box of Lego and Play Dough.   
  
As the children tore open their presents, Harm had noticed Mac was oddly distant to all the excitement. She was looking a little pale and was not really focused on the kids. He had asked her what was bothering her but she gave him a lame excuse that she had a slightly headache. Harm knew that Mac had a headache she was short-tempered and irritable, not silent and inattentive.   
  
The morning quickly passed into afternoon, the children abandoning their parents and the living room for the comforts of their bedrooms where they could better examine their goodies and fill themselves up with sweet crap. It was then Harm decided it was time to confront Mac about her mood.   
  
"What's wrong with you?" he asked casually.   
  
"I don't know what you mean," Mac replied, not looking away from the television screen.   
  
"Mac, you weren't even in the same world as us."   
  
"I don't know what you're talking about, Harm, you're imagining things."   
  
Harm sighed angrily. "I wish you would just talk to me, you always do this." He took a calming breath. "Please, I thought we put all the hiding things and not talking behind us. Please, Mac, just...just talk to me."   
  
She shifted then turned nervous eyes to him. "I...I think you might have to get the protective armour after all."   
  
"What?" Harm frowned. "You're not making any sense, Mac. What are you trying to say?"   
  
Mac inhaled a quick breath of air. "What I'm trying to say is that we're going to have to do up that spare room...I'm pregnant, Harm, we're going to have a baby." Harm eyes bulged, his jaw dropping to the floor. "Yeah, that was my reaction. I estimate in about seven or eight months our five will become six. Heaven help us when we tell the kids. You think if we just keep quiet they won't notice..."   
  
She hadn't realized she was babbling until Harm dropped down to kneel in front of her and took her hands gently. His smiled was far from the look of horror and rejection she had been expecting.   
  
When they had first began their relationship, they had both agreed to always put their children first- they weren't kids any more, they had a responsibility to their children now. She was so certain when the pregnancy kit tested positive that Harm would not want to know for fear of how his children, especially Kat, would take it. Hell, she hadn't planned on getting pregnant- with Jacob's health problems and the house already rowdy with five kids- but something had compelled her to buy that kit some weeks ago. It seemed intuition had paid off.   
  
"A baby?" he said in wonder. "We're going to have a baby?"   
  
"Well, technically, _*I'm*_ going to have the baby but yes, we're going to have a baby."   
  
"Wow..."   
  
Her brow furrowed in bewilderment. "You seem pleased."   
  
"I've always been pleased each and every time I've found out I'm about to become a father again."   
  
"But what about Kat and the others? It's going to be so difficult for us, we're not even married." 

He sighed. "Any new baby causes difficulties, but we'll manage. This isn't the Stone Age, we don't need a piece of paper for permission to have a child. And Kat and the other kids will get used to the idea." He smiled. "It would be nice to have a child together."   
  
He was right. A child was a symbol of a bond between two people, and this child would signify a complex connection that had existed between her and Harm that spanned fourteen years.   
  
"Six kids? That's going to be quite a handful." Harm's eyes drifted to the portrait of the two combined families, complete with pets, that hung above the fireplace. "But we've been through an eleven-year separation, a reunion, a plane crash, resentful kids not to mention all the crap when we were both at JAG. I think we can handle a child together, I think we could handle anything fate throws at us."   
  
Suddenly the living room door opened to reveal a tinsel-covered Kat closely followed by Tom and Jacob. The little girl studied them carefully.   
  
"What are you guys doing?" she asked, a touch of suspicion in her voice.   
  
"Nothing, honey," Harm replied sweetly. "Just talking." When the three kids vacated the room to go into the kitchen, Mac shot Harm an incredulous glare. "Well, we need some time before we break this to them." A cunning look passed over him. "How long will it be until you start to show?"   
  
Mac blinked. "You're not planning to hide this, are you?"   
  
"For as long as we can, Mac, for as long as we can."   
  
Mac just shook her head. She patted her stomach maternally._ *Oh, little one, you have no idea what you're coming into,*_ she thought with a smile. _*But it's going to be a lot of fun, that's for sure.*_   
  
A man who was practically her husband, the memories of a dead mother, an immature ex-husband not to mention a teenager, a kid who wants to cut up everybody, a child with a list of health problems, a resentful and vindictive five-year-old, a toddler, and a new baby on the way. Why did Mac get the feeling that she was about to learn the true meaning of complicated? 

But she wouldn't trade it for anything in the world...   
  


****

THE END...FOR NOW???

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 

Well, e-mail me and tell me what you think about Harm and Mac's extended family. I might do another instalment about the events leading up to the baby's birth but I'm not sure.   


   [1]: ../../../../m.a.jooty@dundee.ac.uk



End file.
